Luck favors the brave. If they’re insanely talented, there’s planetary alignment in the air. With pomp and genius, playwright Florian Zeller ticks both boxes. When he decided to adapt his successful play The Father (three Molières and an international victory in 2012) for the cinema, the image of Anthony Hopkins imposed itself on him: “ I have an extreme admiration for her and was convinced she would be outstanding in this role. I wrote the script with him in mind. That’s why the main character’s name is Anthony. When the script was finished in English, all that remained was for Sir Anthony to read it. Will she agree to play the dementia patient in her eighties who watches the movie with her confused eyes, disorientated, panicked, paranoid outbursts of anger, in a word, the shipwreck of old age, Alzheimer’s disease taking over? old? Like a bottle in the sea, Zeller sends the script to his manager.
The actress wants to meet him. He hops on a plane to Los Angeles. Handshake, good vibes, hugs: the movie will be shot. “Overwed by the script” but devoted to a project, Hopkins asks the Frenchman to wait for him without really believing it… “I knew right away that Florian’s movie was going to be one of my best films. Career” won an Academy Award for his role as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Twenty-nine years after his win, he announces the actor who will receive a second gold statuette at the age of 83. Florian Zeller won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
virtuoso direction
On set, Hopkins has the talented Olivia Colman (Queen II. The duo stands out. Hopkins doesn’t play, she’s Anthony, this old man whose boredom is in our throats and many viewers would recognize a relative.) According to Zeller: Theater and cinema exist to share common feelings, to remind us that we are part of a whole, humanity. “And to explain:” I experienced this feeling of helplessness and loneliness in the face of illness. I realized that love is not always enough. His words are accurate and his staging is virtuoso.
He deliberately blurs the cards, recruiting several actors for the same role, messing up sets, venues, to reflect Anthony’s confusion and disorientation. Hopkins drew extreme emotions from him to nurture this mirror role in so many ways, as it is a film that questions the passing life and the approaching end. I remember my father’s death a lot, the translator admits, adding with endless gratitude: This movie is different. The best thing that has ever happened to me in my professional life. » In the final scene, who can say whether the emotion that stirs the screen is Anthony’s or Hopkins’?
Father, Sunday 14 May at 21:10 in France 2
JULIAN BARCILON
Source: Programme Television
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
